Band of Living Dolls

What would the Monalisa look like if she was painted in 2012? What would Venus look like if she was to mingle with human in 2012? By the Size 0 trend, both Da Vinci and Botticelli would have to cut pounds and pounds off those icons if they wanted to generate the same image those paintings created hundreds of years ago. However, apparently in 2012, a skinny figure is not enough. As much as I wish that it was a hoax, I have to give, that in some parts of the world a new trend of beauty is spreading and it's scary as hell: the living dolls.

The standard of beauty changes with time. That's a fact we all have to accept. Women in the 15th century plucked their hairline to achieve the look of the century--high forehead, whereas those in the 16th century put a thick layer of white powder on their face to look like Queen Elizabeth and those in the 18th century had to endure having their hair extended up to three feet in the air to look pretty, as women in the 21st century had to starve in order to achieve the 'ideal' size-zero-look. Some girls these days bend over backwards to get what they think is the 'perfect' appearance. They have crossed the line into the impossible. To put it the way I like better, they've reached a new level of crazy.

The most renowned (and one of the pioneers) of this trend is an Ukrainian model, Valeriya Luyanova (Darn! Her name is hard to spell!). Despite her unnatural look, the 21-year-old human-Barbie claims that she has never undergone any plastic surgery to achieve her looks and that she is "endowed by nature with extraordinary external data". But, man, come on! How extraordinary could that external data be? I don't believe that nature even has that sort of data. Of course, we could always turn to the data cosmetics and plastic surgery can provide. Which, it goes without saying, means pretty much all kinds of data. Let's say she has had no plastic surgery performed on her face, what about her ribs? It seems to me that she's lost some. And there is a procedure called rib-removal, you know. And it's just impossible for a human's waist to be that small. It's not even bigger than her head!

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for trying to look pretty, but the essence of looking good is to make us feel good about ourselves. (Or have I been wrong about this?) I don't believe that THAT amount of plastic surgeries and/or cosmetics will make us feel comfortable, let alone good. I can't even begin to understand why, OH WHY, some women are willing to go to such extend to attain the so-called perfect look. Plus, instead of looking pretty, this doll army look downright creepy to my eyes. The red-head in this picture is an Ukrainian real-life anime called 'Anime'--the 19-year-od Anastasiya Shpagina (Forgive me for thinking of another word that rhymes with her last name). She spends 30 minutes on each eye EVERY SINGLE DAY, people! Every day! 30 minutes wasted to look inhuman and creepier than Freddy and Jason walking hand in hand sneakily behind you in a dark, desolate alley.

Altering your body like that is just insane. I think this is the most idiotic and ridiculous beauty trend so far. And those two adjectives don't even begin to explain what I feel about this trend. There are many others that I couldn't even made out into sentences without slamming my head on the keyboard out of frustration--dehumanizing, illogical, disturbing, I could go on and on.

Anyway, if the Mayans were proven wrong and we get to see 2013 and the years to come, I say we better start getting used to this. We should brace ourselves for crazier beauty trends that I'm sure will emerge. Yes, it is extreme and possibly dangerous at some level, but what can we do? After all, we live in a world where people are allowed to hurt themselves.

So, what do you think? Do these living-dolls look pretty or just wrong?